Feng Xiao, indeed, would not write a reply. Although Pei Jingzhe
failed his task, he was still a member of the Jiejian Bureau by the
end of the day. He would not allow an outsider to punish him. So,
Feng Xiao ordered a few people to watch over the surroundings of
the Lu manor, refusing to allow any of the people inside to leave,
while he brought Cui Buqu and headed towards the outskirts of the
Huyang forest.
Cui Buqu was curious, "If you wanted to save Pei Jingzhe, why are
you bringing me along for?"
Feng Xiao, "With a hostage in their hand, they are fearless. In such a
situation, I might perish in battle or left with no ideas of what to do,
but a crafty man like you could surely assist me in yielding a few
strategies."
Cui Buqu stared at that calm, steady look of his. No matter how he
looked at him, Feng Xiao did not seem as if he would 'left with no
ideas of what to do'.
As expected, the other's next sentence was, "Just in case we
encounter any dangers, with you here, I feel a little safer."
Cui Buqu replied coldly, "I bet you want to use me as a meat shield."
Feng Xiao, "Clever."
His footsteps were like the wind; his qinggong1 as smooth as the
flowing waters and clouds. To avoid Cui Buqu slowing him down,
Feng Xiao grabbed his waist and heaved him into the air as well.
Cui Buqu simply felt both of his feet floating above the air, it did not
require him to use any strength, and suddenly he had already arrived
at the destination.
The moon revealed itself from behind grey clouds and brought light
to the mortal world. Under the moonlight, the Huyang forest looked
like it was practically glowing, yielding a sort of calmness and peace
that did not exist during the morning.
But this peace was merely an illusion. Perhaps Cui Buqu could not
sense it, but Feng Xiao could already sense the stir in the air.
He stopped his footsteps.
"You have invited me, so then why are you hiding?"
The grassy fields weren't considered dense with just patches
sprouting from the sand few and far between each other, but Cui
Buqu hadn't even heard anything, when a man was already standing
under a tree not far off.
It was that Goguryeon man, Gao Ning.
Although Gao Ning used the surname of the country, Gao, and was
also one of the top fighters in the Central Plains, his attire looked
worn and old, almost shabby.
He wore grey all over and looked like he had travelled a long way,
but he could care less about it. He kept his eyes on Feng Xiao the
moment he showed himself and did not even spare a glance at Cui
Buqu.
This was, of course, not because Feng Xiao was handsome, it was
because he had decided that Feng Xiao was his one true nemesis
and wanted to defeat him. Feng Xiao, "What about the man you caught?"
Gao Ning was straightforward about it, "Not here".
His Han was not fluent; his tone and words were stiff, even cringer
than the icy night breeze that bellowed.
Feng Xiao chuckled, "I knew that Pei Jingzhe would not have been
so stupid that he'd still be caught even after you've taken his token.
Speak, who else are your accomplices? The high and mighty
number one fighter of Goguryeo is using such underhanded
methods. It seems that the Goguryeons are merely just chicken and
dogs, cowards and ghosts!"
Gao Ning's face showed a hint of anger, his hands rested on his
sword, but beside him, someone else spoke.
"He is using the provoking technique; there is no need to pay him
attention."
Another person appeared behind a large boulder; he had been
keeping his breath low on purpose before, unmoving, that even Feng
Xiao could not sense where he was.
There was little room to guess who it could be when a high-level
martial artist that could rival even Feng Xiao had coincidentally
appeared in the City of Six Crafts.
"Is this not the number one fighter of Göktürk? Did you drop
something? Want me to find it for you?" Feng Xiao mocked him with
feigned surprise.
Fo Er, "Tonight, you weren't concentrated. I want to fight a new battle
with you." Cui Buqu, "This is the first time I am seeing someone who lost speak
in such a refined way. You people are not from the Central Plains, so
I wager you would not happen to know how to write the words dirty,
underhanded, shameless, and calculative?
His voice was passive, but he had said everything in one go,
obviously carrying a mocking tone.
From the way Gao Ning and Fo Er looked at them, they might at
least understood a little of what he meant.
Feng Xiao happily said, "QuQu, I have never seen you being this
adorable and loveable."
Cui Buqu, "Lord Feng, please refrain from being so self-centred.
Resume addressing me as Master Daoist Cui; do not call me
anything that makes my heart feel disgusted."
"Men of the Central Plain, tch!" Gao Ning laughed coldly, interrupting
their conversation, "They are all bark and no bite!"
After he spoke, he drew his sword and flew towards Feng Xiao.
The glare of the sword was blinding, almost like the arrays of a
rainbow, a few times the speed compared to how he held Pei
Jingzhe hostage minutes before.
At the same time, Fo Er attacked from the other side. With one on
Feng Xiao's left and one on his right, it seemed they intended to go
for the kill right away.
However, Feng Xiao showed no fear. He did not move until both of
them were within reach, only then did he push himself off the ground
with his foot and rose into the air, avoiding both of their combined
moves. The zither rolled out from his hand, and he landed on the ground; the
wind cooperated with the zither and sent an attack towards the other
two. Under the combined attack of Gao Ning and Fo Er, he wasn't at
a disadvantage.
Although Cui Buqu was not on good terms with Feng Xiao, from this
moment onwards, they were on the same boat. If Feng Xiao was
defeated, it wouldn't be beneficial for him.
Fo Er and Gao Ning together were indeed powerful, but Feng Xiao
was certainly not a pushover either. Between the three of them, it
was impossible to tell who would win. Even if Feng Xiao grabbed
hold of all the opportunities given to him, he might not be able to
defeat them.
After Cui Buqu observed for a moment, he relaxed and began
walking to a nearby boulder to sit on it before continuing to slowly
monitor the battle.
At that moment, he suddenly felt his hairs standing in a cold sweat
as if someone was blowing mouthfuls of air at the back of his neck.
In reality, there was no one blowing air at the back of his neck; it was
only the instinct of humans warning him of danger. Cui Buqu did not
know anything about the martial arts, but perhaps since he was often
sick and his body had accepted various kinds of medicinal affects,
his five senses became more alert and sensitive; at that moment, he
did not even hesitate and bent forwards to sprawl on the ground.
The moment he sprawled onto the ground, something wheezed past
the top of his head, and in the next moment, Cui Buqu saw that not
far in front of him, a few long needles were sticking out neatly from
the ground.
Needless to say, poison stained those needles. Cui Buqu felt that his movement was too sudden as his back ached
and his knees hurt. He did not have enough strength to stand up
again and run while the threat that would claim his life was already
right behind him. He could only roll to the side to save himself in a
sorry way, but at least he could keep his life.
As he rolled to the side, two people in black rushed at him with one
at the back, and one in front. Swords shone in their hands, and while
he could escape the attack from before, no doubt, he could not
escape this one.
No good comes from standing close with that oleander!
While Cui Buqu had considered everything, he couldn't have
guessed that his death would be the cause of not his enemies killing
him or dying of his illness, but because he had got involved with
Feng Xiao! He did not have time to open his mouth to shout curses,
but he was already doing it in his heart. He cursed Feng Xiao's
ancestors through a few dozen generations before himself until the
time of the Xia, Shang, Zhou and Three Sovereigns and Five
Emperors periods.
He closed his eyes, accepting fate.
He did not know whether it was because his curses to Feng Xiao's
ancestors in his heart was taking effect, for those sword never
landed on his back, and the anticipated pain never came. The sound
of fighting sounded next to his ear; Cui Buqu opened his eyes and
saw that Feng Xiao had managed to arrive on time, standing in the
way of those assassins that wanted to kill him.
At that moment, two more people joined the enemy's ranks. It had
become one against four.
Feng Xiao did not have the energy to retaliate against Cui Buqu. It
was obvious that he had begun to feel wore down. One he was out of danger, Cui Buqu spoke, "These two men are
from the Yunhai Thirteen Pavilions, they even have poisoned
needles!"
The Yunhai Thirteen Stories had emerged once tonight, but they had
left when the woman in yellow, Bing Xuan, exposed them. No one
knew that they would appear so soon here again and join arms with
Fo Er and Gao Ning.
Feng Xiao, "Why did I not know that the Yunhai Thirteen Stories do
not only assassinate people now, but have also resorted to robbery?"
Of course, those two people in black would not respond to him,
infusing all their strength and attention at attacking Feng Xiao. They
did not even look at Cui Buqu, as their target, since the beginning,
had always been Feng Xiao.
In the dead of the night the wind rose and the sandstorms gradually
got stronger. As the few shadows fought each other on the
highlands, they did not realize that they had reached a cliff. Looking
downwards, although it wasn't an abyss of a thousand zhangs deep,
it was similarly dangerous. It would claim the life of a normal person
if they fell down.
A mouthful of sand filled his mouth and nose, Cui Buqu nearly
coughed it out, but he refrained himself from doing so. He knew that
between battles of highly skilled martial artists, even one mistake
was not permitted. If Feng Xiao lost because of a distraction, then
the fate that awaits himself would not be a good one.
He moved slowly to a dark spot in the corner where nobody would
notice him, using the large boulder to conceal his presence. Added
with the sandy winds that arose, the few people surrounding Feng
Xiao wouldn't have noticed that Cui Buqu went missing. Ever since the two assassins from Yunhai Thirteen Stories
participated in the battle, the situation had taken a turn for the worse.
With four exceptionally skilled fighters battling with the best of their
capabilities at the same time, even if Feng Xiao was number one
beneath the sky, he could not escape unscathed. Also, considering
that two of these people were not from the Central Plains, and the
other two were assassins; they would indeed not follow the
regulations of martial artists within the Central Plains. With numbers
by their side, and after a few more exchanges of fists, Feng Xiao's
stomach and shoulders finally took the hit, and his moves became
slower. Fo Er grasped the opportunity, striking a palm to his chest,
sending him rolling down the cliff as Gao Ning kicked his zither into
the other direction.
Feng Xiao fell down the cliff, darkness consuming him. The Yunhai
Thirteen Stories were assassins who would pursue until the end.
They did not hesitate about jumping down the cliff in pursuit. At that
moment, sandstorms flew all around, mixing with a little rain and
snow; even high levelled fighters would not have been able to stand
it. Gao Ning and Fo Er formerly did not know each other, but
because of Feng Xiao, they had agreed to become temporary allies.
Yet once the enemy was defeated, they quickly held their guard
towards each other, and seeing how terrible the weather was, they
were not as obsessed as the assassins, so both of them left, one
heading the west, the other to the east, disappearing into the
snowstorm.
Cui Buqu waited for a moment, coming out to investigate only after
feeling that those two were far enough.
His vision was not bad; even so, it was difficult to see anything in
darkness such as the one before him.
Even if Feng Xiao was fortunate enough to be alive after his fall, he
could not say what would happen if those two assassins had found
him. Cui Buqu said in this heart: 'Tsk, tsk'. He felt it a pity that someone
with good looks like Feng Xiao would be reduced into ashen bones,
but at the same time, he was glad that Feng Xiao was gone. The
Jiejian Bureau would be dull for a while, and that would be the
chance for the Zuoyue Bureau to rise.
As he was thinking, a weak voice filled his ears.
"Pull me up."
Cui Buqu moved to the side of the cliff and squatted, reaching out to
feel around the edge.
As he fumbled here and there, he indeed found a hand!
That hand swiftly grabbed onto him, practically dragging his entire
person down with it. The latter instantly grabbed onto the edge to
prevent himself from being yanked down.
"Pull me, up!"
Feng Xiao's voice was weak, it was apparent that he did not want
others to hear it, but it also seemed that he was wounded quite
severely.
"How lucky you are!" Cui Buqu helplessly shouted back.
Feng Xiao snorted, "The Heavens naturally offer their protection to
someone of peerless elegance and grace like myself. How could
those little nobodies be able to wound me?"
Cui Buqu, "But now you want me to save you."
Feng Xiao, "When we get back, I will reinstall your freedom and let
you go wherever you please." Cui Buqu spoke in his heart. If this old man wanted to leave, you
would not even be able to lock me up.
"That is nothing to me. If you agree to do something, I will pull you
up."
Feng Xiao said impatiently, "I will agree to anything, just pull me up
first!"
He kept his voice low so the Yunhai Thirteen Stories would not be
able to hear him.
Cui Buqu, "Call me 'Dad' three times and I will pull you up.
Feng Xiao, "..."
=======================
[1] Qinggong: Qinggong is a technique in Chinese martial arts, in
which martial artists can move swiftly and lightly at superhuman
speed, and perform gravity-defying moves such as gliding on water
surfaces, scaling high walls and mounting trees.